Today, more and more users desire access to two or more computers, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, or other processing devices, either through direct access or through wired or wireless networks. To facilitate operation of multiple computers, interface switches are necessary to allow a user to operate two or more computers with one or more common or shared peripheral devices. Examples of shared peripheral devices may include a keyboard, a mouse, and a touchpad, a display, a projector, a printer, and storage devices such as a hard drive, an optical drive, and a memory device or memory card.
Traditional switches are limited to the specifics of certain interfaces, such as PS/2 interfaces for keyboards and mice and VGA interfaces for monitors. Many switch designs are limited to specific connectors limiting other choices of different interface protocols and interface devices.